Communal Riots-2011.pdf - Indian Social Institute

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No jobs on compassionate ground to riots victims' kin (7) AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat high court on Wednesday refused to direct the state government to provide jobs on compassionate grounds to kin of post-Godhra riot victims in state services or PSUs after the state government expressed its inability to do so. Social activist Gagan Sethi had moved the HC in 2008, demanding implementation of the Union government's scheme of 2007 to disburse ex-gratia compensation to riot affected and also provide jobs to kin of riot victims. The bone of contention was the additional relief and rehabilitation package envisaged in the Centre's 2007 scheme that spoke of providing compassionate appointment to children and family members of those killed during the 2002 riots. The Centre promised to give preference to them in recruitment in paramilitary forces, IR battalions, SRP, PSUs and other state and central government departments by giving necessary age relaxation. (Times of India 8/9/11) Communal Violence Bill will infringe rights of state: Orissa (7) New Delhi: Orissa on Saturday strongly opposed the Communal Violence Bill in its present form, contending the Bill is “not practical” and infringes upon the rights of the state. “The draft communal violence bill is not practical and infringes upon the rights of the state,” Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik told reporters emerging out of the National Integration Council meeting here. Addressing the meeting, he expressed concerns over several provisions, especially Section 20, of The Prevention of Communal and Targeted Violence (Access to Justice and Regulations) Bill, 2011. He said it could be exploited by “mischievous groups who can provoke violence and then make demands for imposition of President’s rule”. “I, therefore, strongly oppose introduction of such a Bill which compromises the spirit of cooperative federalism and infringes on states autonomy,” he said at the NIC meeting here, seeking wide ranging consultation with the states to sort out misgivings and arrive at a consensus. He said constitution of two more authorities as per the provisions will lead to “multiplicity of fora” to scrutinise state governments’ actions as already a number of monitoring agencies exist for carrying out such supervisions. Setting up a ‘national authority for communal harmony justice and reparation’ and ‘state authority for communal harmony justice and reparation’ with overlapping jurisdiction may also lead to “confusion” in sensitive situations, he said. Besides, the Centre may “interfere” in the jurisdiction of the state government directly or indirectly through the former proposed body, he observed. (The Hindu 10/9/11) Tripura government opposes communal violence bill (7) New Delhi, Sep 10 : Tripura's Left Front government Saturday opposed the proposed communal violence bill, terming it an "infringement" on the rights of the states. "The proposed bill would be an infringement on the rights of the states and is bound to seriously impair the federal spirit enshrined in the constitution of India. Therefore, the same should not be pursued," Chief Minister Manik Sarkar said at the 15th National Integration Council (NIC) meeting here. "The existing legal framework is adequate to deal with all kinds of law and order situations including the communal disturbances," he said. The bill, drafted by the Sonia Gandhi-headed National Advisory Council, seeks to protect "groups" from communal violence and harm, describing "religious and linguistic minority, in any state in the Union of India, or Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes" as victims. Sarkar, also a member of the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) politburo, said that the fundamentalist organisations should be firmly dealt with and should not be allowed to create any communal disturbances in the country. "An appropriate development strategy can play a crucial role in promoting national integration," he said adding that all the national and regional political parties should launch an all out ideological and political campaign to promote national unity and integration. (New Kerala 10/9/11) Provisions of the NAC drafted communal violence bill (7) New Delhi, Sep 10 : The proposed communal violence bill, which was discussed at the National Integration Council (NIC) meeting Saturday, intends to prevent and control targeted violence against the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and religious and linguistic minorities. According to the draft bill prepared by the National Advisory Council (NAC), the legislation is intended to enhance state accountability and correct discriminatory exercise of state powers in the context of identity-based violence. The explanatory note on Prevention of Communal and Targeted violence (Access to Justice and Reparations) Bill, 2011, prepared by NAC, lists its key provisions: Dereliction of duty by public servants: The bill recognizes offences of both omission and commission. Public servants who act or omit to exercise authority vested in them under law and fail to protect or prevent offences or act with malafide
and prejudice shall be guilty of dereliction of duty with penal consequences. Defining communal and targeted violence: The provisions of this Bill will apply only when it is first established that the offence was ‘targeted’ in nature. Offences under the Indian Penal Code shall be considered offences under this bill when they meet the definition of ‘targeted’. Breach of command responsibility: The bill seeks to ensure that the power of holding command over the actions of others is indeed upheld as a sacred duty, and that there is culpability for those who are ‘effectively in-charge’. The chain of command responsibility may extend to any level where effective decisions to act or not act are taken. Sanction for prosecution of public servants: The bill proposes that if there is no response to a request for sanction for prosecution within 30 days from the date of the application to the concerned government, sanction to prosecute will be deemed granted. In relation to certain offences under the Indian Penal Code, 1860, when committed by a public servant, the requirement of obtaining sanction is being dispensed with. Monitoring and accountability: Monitoring and grievance redressal shall be the responsibility of the National Authority for Communal Harmony, Justice and Reparation (NACHJR) and corresponding State Authorities for Communal Harmony, Justice and Reparations (SACHJR). The monitoring mechanism of national and state authorities will also provide the ‘paper trail’ to ensure robust accountability of public officials in a court of law. Composition of the NACHJR: The bill proposes that NACHJR will have seven members of which four must belong either to a linguistic minority or religious minority in any state or to the SCs or STs. No more than two members of the NACHJR may be retired public servants. Offences of communal and targeted violence: The Indian Penal Code (IPC) contains most offences committed during episodes of communal and targeted violence. These have been appended in a schedule to the bill and shall be considered offences when they meet the threshold of being ‘knowingly directed against any person by virtue of membership of a group’. The brutal forms of sexual assault (beyond the limited IPC definition of rape) and torture have been included in the bill. Additionally, it defines hate propaganda. Victims' Rights: This bill seeks to strengthen the rights of the victim in the criminal justice system, through certain provisions in their struggle for justice. Relief and Reparation including compensation: All affected persons, whether or not they belong to non-dominant groups in a state have been given justiciable rights to immediate relief, and comprehensive reparations, including compensation if they suffer any harm as a result of any offence of communal and targeted violence recorded under this Bill. No compensation for death shall be less than Rs.15 lakh. No compensation for rape shall be less than Rs.5 lakh. The federal principle: Advisories and recommendations of NAJCHR are not binding on state governments. All powers and duties of investigation, prosecution, and trial remain with the state governments. (New Kerala 10/9/11) Communal violence bill: Manmohan Singh praises NIC, Chidambaram (7) New Delhi: The minority communities often feel they are being unfairly targeted in the “aftermath of unfortunate incidents”, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said on Saturday, inaugurating the National Integration Council meet, which is todebate the communal violence bill. “It is a matter of great satisfaction that in recent years, relations among various communities have by and large remained harmonious,” the prime minister observed. “Members of this council have played an active role in ensuring that people respond with maturity to developments that may otherwise flare up communal tempers. Nevertheless, we need to maintain a continuous vigil in this regard.” Prime Minister Manmohan Singh came to the rescue of his colleague home minister P Chidambaram at the National Integration Council (NIC) meet today by elaborately listing out the steps taken by him to bolster the intelligence and investigating apparatus. Mentioning various steps taken up by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Singh said, “The intelligence sharing mechanism under the multi-agency has been bolstered and the National Intelligence Grid is being implemented so that intelligence from various sources can be accessed and analysed to identify actionable points.” Singh, however, did not mention the NCTC, making it evident that there are no takers yet for Chidambaram’s favourite project of creating an overarching body to counter terrorism at all levels and it still has a long way to go as other cabinet colleagues are not ready to go with the idea in its original form. On Friday, Chidambaram had said that the process was on to set up the NCTC soon. In his speech at the NIC, he did not delve in to the subject of terrorism and rather focussed on broad parameters of solving communal violence. Chidambaram said: “The biggest challenge is the use of violence as an instrument of protest or an instrument of change. Insurgency, militancy and terrorism threaten to unravel the idea of India.” He also said the country still faces the old evils like communalism, casteism and parochialism. And that it was natural to focus on violent attacks of terrorist groups but attention must be given to the violence unleashed by ideologically-driven Left wing extremists. (DNA 10/9/11)
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Page 5 and 6: against Bhatt but he was suspended
Page 7: Wednesday night," he added. Superin
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Communal Riots-2011.pdf - Indian Social Institute

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